U.S. wedding costs soar

Washington Times ^ | 6-15-06 | AP

[Grammy]

I am surprised you only had to pay a "couple hundred" on a cake! I decorate cakes (fancy ones, like you see in Martha Stewart, not your kroger special) and I can get several thousand for a cake!

[TASMANIANRED]

It would make far more sense to get married for $75 and put $25,000 on a house.

Of course it was a few years ago but mine cost $6 and has been good for 30 years.

[Xenalyte]

Oh, please. I don't think our wedding cost $5,000, and it was wonderful. It was certainly no society 'do, but it was lovely and it was fun.

[Xenalyte]

Not ours. My mother already had two weddings of her own, and she had my sister's too. Ours was for us.

[MikefromOhio]

where the hell are these people getting married?

me and the wife's marriage set us back about $4000, which included the reception hall, limo, dresses and all that. It helped that we couldn't go on a honeymoon immediately and it helped that her mom made all of the dresses, but $22Gs?

Ouch.

[Xenalyte]

Ten bucks says those girls weren't spending thousands and thousands of their own dollars.

Parents can be so stupid sometimes . . .

[mewzilla]

U.S. wedding costs soar

Funny, divorce rates are high, too.

Go figure.

Sigh.

[JoeGar]

Birthday parties should be cake, soda, games - no reason for it to even reach $50

I've been reading about "Sweet Sixteen" parties in the half-million dollar range.

[bannie]

Elope. I always do.

:-o

[Xenalyte]

When we tied the knot last September, King Henry VIII walked me down the aisle, and he and Queen Catherine and the Spanish Conquistadors formed up an aisle for us when we left the church. It was spectacular!

[Xenalyte]

Is your daughter under 25? 'Cause as a very snotty 25-year-old myself, I went for guys my parents hated - even guys I didn't particularly like, just so long as it pissed off my parents!

[Mordacious]

Some people hold weddings at a resort, expect their guests to pay their own costs, and get offended if some of the people they invite can't/won't shell out that kind of money. Tacky!

One of the advantages of holding a wedding in a far-off locale is that it keeps away all those peripheral people you don't want to invite, but for reasons of decorum, would've had to invite if you'd gotten married at home ;)

I agree, though, about expecting folks to pay their own way.

[JoeGar]

My son just got married. I got off easy -- just the cost of the rehearsal dinner.

[TChris]

The only choices are "spend in excess of $20,000 on an wedding" or "forego the ritual"? Sheesh! Can you say "false dichotomy"?

[Xenalyte]

Do you do fondant cakes? I was surprised at the difference between standard icing and fondant.

Of course, all the Martha Stewart cakes I liked were fondant.



The Rose Tower is one of my favorites.



I like the ribbon cake a lot too.

[old and tired]

Truth be told, we (she and her boyfriend) avoid the topic of walking down the aisle because it is so inextricably tied up with gross, conspicuous consumption," she writes. "We have watched friends get sucked into the tidal wave that is the emotionally manipulative wedding industry -- now totaling $50 billion in sales a year." Saying the marriage ritual has turned into "a circus of decadence," Martin says, "Not only is the egregious spending offensive in a world where too many have too little, but the meaning of the ritual is all but lost amid the designer dresses and lobster dinners."

Sounds to me like the boyfriend's got cold feet and this dame's blaming it on the ridiculous cost of marrying her. She should just face facts, it's her, not the cost of marrying her.

[mtbopfuyn]

Granted, it was a few years ago, but my cake was 3 tired and only cost $40 with the flowers I furnished for it. I know today's cakes are time consuming to decorate. I have Colett Peters' books and then there's whats-her-face with the big glasses who also makes elaborate cakes. My closet claim to fame in the cake decorating business is once having met Kerry Vincent who make a cake for Queen Elizabeth's Golden Anniversary.

[Antoninus]

Anyone who is using cost as a reason not to get married is lying.

You can get married for almost nothing if you really want to. If your family wants it to be a huge deal, let THEM pay for it.

[SE Mom]

30 years ago my wedding was at a church- we had 6 bridesmaids and 6 ushers (that's what we called them in the OLD days!)..a lovely reception with lots of "finger food"..crab..lobster..shrimp etc..champagne flowing..a wonderful band. The entire "event" including my dress...lots of flowers, bouquets..AND wedding trip (6 days in New England including hotels, meals etc)...cost around $3,000. I thought it was extravagent!

My son and DIL have attended many weddings of friends, and have been in a few as well. They watched the madness and said NOT US! They decided to have a tiny wedding- she bought a pretty dress- nothing exhorbitant, my son has his Army dress blues- so no need to get a tuxedo. We (both sets of parents and some grandparents) drove up to St Augustine (Florida) and had a wedding. We went out for a very good dinner and that was that! We had a blast and so did they- it was perfect. They also now have thousands of dollars in the bank, saved by not spending it on a wedding.

[mtbopfuyn]

Fondant cakes are all the rage and it's the fondant that makes them so gorgeous, but it tastes NASTY.